Growing Stock: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Stock produces dense, fragrant flower spikes in a wide color range, prized as a cut flower for both the look and the scent. It’s a member of the brassica family, related to cabbage and broccoli, which shows up in the pests it has to deal with more than in its appearance.
A cool-season flower
Transplanting is the recommended method: start seed 5 to 6 weeks before field planting, sown 1/4 inch deep. Direct-seeding after frost danger passes also works. Germination takes 7 to 14 days at 65-75°F. Stock prefers cool weather, which makes spring and fall the two reliable windows rather than a single summer-long planting.
Flea beetles are the main threat
Because stock is a brassica relative, it’s vulnerable to flea beetles the same way cabbage and broccoli are. Row cover at transplanting is worth the trouble, especially if flea beetles have been a problem for other brassicas in the garden before. Avoid pinching the plants, since it doesn’t improve branching the way it does on some other cut flowers.
Harvest and succession planting
Cut stems once a third to half the florets on a spike have opened. Stems typically reach 24 to 28 inches with a vase life of 5 to 10 days. Succession-plant every two weeks through the cool season for a steady supply rather than one concentrated flush.
Stock has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. At 2 plants per square foot, it works well in a dedicated cutting row in the Garden Designer, timed for spring or fall rather than the heat of summer.
Source: Stock: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Stock · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 2-2.5 ft
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. It needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
When to plant stock, by zone
Every zone stock grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a & 2b | Apr 8–Apr 15 | May 20–May 27 | Aug 8–Aug 15 |
| 3a & 3b | Apr 18–Apr 25 | May 30–Jun 6 | Aug 18–Aug 25 |
| 4a & 4b | Apr 3–Apr 10 | May 15–May 22 | Aug 3–Aug 10 |
| 5a & 5b | Mar 29–Apr 5 | May 10–May 17 | Jul 29–Aug 5 |
| 6a & 6b | Mar 14–Mar 21 | Apr 25–May 2 | Jul 14–Jul 21 |
| 7a & 7b | Feb 27–Mar 6 | Apr 10–Apr 17 | Jun 29–Jul 6 |
| 8a & 8b | Feb 11–Feb 18 | Mar 25–Apr 1 | Jun 13–Jun 20 |
| 9a & 9b | Jan 4–Jan 11 | Feb 15–Feb 22 | May 6–May 13 |
| 10a & 10b | Dec 19–Dec 26 | Jan 30–Feb 6 | Apr 20–Apr 27 |
| 11a & 11b | Nov 20–Nov 27 | Jan 1–Jan 8 | Mar 22–Mar 29 |
Bloom dates are about 80 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
Zone 2 sows before zone 3 here, which looks wrong and is not. USDA zones rank winter cold, not season length, and zone 2 is mostly interior Alaska, where hard winters come with warm summers. More on what a zone measures.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Stock plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 2 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-2.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species stock (Matthiola incana): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this species in a range of named color and height series bred for the cut-flower trade; the growing requirements are consistent across them, so the species itself covers what matters for care. (source)
- 'StoX' series stock (best for: double-flowering percentage): Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this series, sold in colors like yellow, white, deep rose and silver, as bred for high-quality blooms with a high double-flowering plant selection, a step up in bloom reliability over an unselected mix. (source)
- 'Iron' series stock (best for: florist-quality cutting): Johnny's Selected Seeds markets this series, sold in colors like blue, apricot and a pastel mix, as premium and reliable florist quality, aimed specifically at cut-flower growers rather than garden borders. (source)
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy stock seeds
True Leaf Market · Burpee (each supplier's stock seeds)
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing stock" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Stock: A fragrant, spike-flowered cut flower related to cabbage and broccoli, and susceptible to the same flea beetles.
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